The present invention pertains to means for securing or retaining a gas separating device to a suitable frame, and more particularly to a unit filter cell latch assembly having a hinged or pivoted retainer or clamp for holding the unit filter cell in the gas flow line.
Various unit filter cell retaining latch assemblies are known. Exemplary of these prior art devices are: U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,498 issued on July 23, 1968 to D. W. Schoen; U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,269 issued on Mar. 25, 1969 to P. L. Hyatt; U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,242 issued on Nov. 3, 1970 to R. L. Bennett; U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,503 issued on July 20, 1971 to Paul D. Andrews; U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,008 issued on Dec. 28, 1971 to Alan E. Revell; and, U.S. Pat. No. 3,816,984 issued on July 18, 1974 to Gerhard Max Neumann.
A unit filter cell latch used to clamp a unit filter cell in a frame structure should apply a substantially uniform clamping force against the unit filter cell. A non-uniform clamping force applied to the unit filter cell will prevent the unit filter cell from seating squarely against the frame structure and could exert a strain on the unit filter cell which could cause it to fracture or warp.
Further, in order to conserve space, and therefore cost, a unit filter cell latch should be compact in construction and capable of being actuated with a minimum of movement.